1.
Bai Jing'an redecorated the training room on the third floor, doubling the area, and reviewed all the upgrade programs to prevent spyware from getting in.
Since Xia Tian and Didi moved in, his house has been noisy several times, and the whole house has become too normal... He is actually not familiar with what the house looks like when it is actually occupied by people, but it should look like this.
Haida sent a few more sports cars and luxury goods over, took a bunch of photos, and once asked them how they usually called each other, the media wanted to know.
Bai Jing'an said he was called "Xiamen" in Xia Tian, and Xia Tian said he was called "Bai Jing'an", sometimes "Hi".
"No." Haida said, "You have to give each other nicknames."
"Nickname?" Bai Jing'an said.
"'Hey' what's wrong, he knows I'm calling him." Xia Tian said.
Haida ignored his answer, as if it wasn't a language.
"Hurry up, think of a private name for you, be intimate, and think of it immediately." She said.
The two were silent for a while, and Bai Jing'an said: "I really think Xia Tian is pretty good."
"Bai Jing'an's name is indeed a bit distant." Xia Tian said, "That's called Xiaobai?"
Bai Jing'an said in shock: "You can't call that!"
"I'm going to call it that." Xia Tian said.
"That's it." Haida said happily, "I'll report it right away!"
Bai Jing'an stared at them for a while, really didn't know what to say, so he finally had to give in.
In this way, he became a "Xiaobai" with a "cute" personality on his body, and the media used it to talk about it when they had nothing to do.
Meanwhile, the finale banquet is finally over.
During the week-long banquet, about fifty people died or disappeared due to various reasons, and what they killed was just one of the dead.
But Bai Jing'an and Xia Tian did not relax, their schedules were still full of various photoshoots, promotions and parties. They are still entertainment stars after all, but they are packaged as fighters.
In addition, as the stars of Xinke, they also received many invitations to private banquets that were difficult to refuse.
Some of the banquets of the big shots are just banquets, but some are... pretty weird. Bai Jing'an has seen a lot, Xia Tian has seen even more. He's quite the bling freak attractor.
Once, I attended a banquet in the summer, came back disheveled, and injected antagonists with a cold face. He made too much, Bai Jing'an walked over to help him control the dosage, he smelled like drugs, and his coat disappeared.
Afterwards, he knew that it was a private banquet held by a rich man, and it was specified that the summer would pass. Not long after he was there, the host tapped the glass and said he hoped that the stars, actors and ordinary people present would strip naked to accompany him and his guests.
His original words are very euphemistic and plain, saying that there will be no sexual intercourse, this is just a formality, he thinks that everyone understands for granted.
"I know this kind of person," Xia Tian said, "they just put on a show, pretend to know everything, make you feel that you don't matter, you're stupid, you'd better do what he says. But..."
"But you were going to do that," Bai Jing'an said, "because everyone else took it off, and you just wanted to prove that you could do it too."
"I stood in front of him, took off my coat, and then the shirt, and he kept staring at me." Xia Tian said, "He looked like he didn't care, but I could tell, he was enjoying it."
He stared at the tea in the cup, Bai Jing'an added some sedative medicine, the hallucinogenic medicine from Shangcheng was powerful and lasted for a long time.
"At this time, there was a guy inside who was overdosed with drugs, and there was a lot of movement." Xia Tian continued, "He looks... like crazy, probably crazy, normal people can't..."
He paused, and seemed to shudder.
Later, Bai Jing'an also saw that scene on TV - it was also a reality show, the ratings were good, many people were waiting to gloat and watch some pornographic things.
On the screen, under the influence of drugs, a starlet believes that he is a dog, and his behavior is extremely perverted.
"I'm not sure what's wrong, but I just think it's very wrong... I took advantage of the confusion to leave the banquet, and when I got on the car, the driver was shaking all the time, only to find out that there was an inhalation drug." Xia Tian said, "I didn't find the drug, because I can always think , but... I actually took off my clothes in front of him! I don't know what else to do if I stay there."
This is the most common "fun game" in Shangcheng, Bai Jing'an thought, and he also likes to find new people. Those people are not familiar with this set, and they won't care about it. These people feel humiliated, self-loathing, and you don't even feel like they did something because no one forced you.
But that's okay, Uptown's countless entertainment shows, drugs and parties can help you ignore the crisis of the soul and continue to have a good time.
And for people like them, if they can overwhelm someone like Xia Tian in momentum and become the shadow in his soul, it must be a great pleasure.
Bai Jingan patted his comrade-in-arms. The man lowered his head, a few locks of his long hair fell out, his breathing was unstable, and his clothes were disheveled. On the screen in the corner of his eyes, the video data of the killing show was still on. Countless deaths were turned into small label strips here, densely packed with no end in sight.
He felt a vague, distant longing: to look after Summer, to keep an eye on him the next time he went to a party, uptown was too dangerous for him to deal with alone.
For so many years, Bai Jing'an tried his best not to attract attention, but it feels natural to take care of Xia Tian, just like you have a brother, you can't let him go to that kind of place by himself.
This longing seemed to rise from the abyss of the soul, with the smell of blood and sadness. Whatever he'd been through before, he'd definitely learned that this feeling was deadly, but he didn't know how to get rid of it.
It won't work though, the world is so dangerous that no one can take care of anyone else.
The next day, Haida came over and brought a summer coat, saying that "Mr. Yi" sent someone to bring it over.
"I don't want to!" Xia Tian said.
"Oh..." Haida said, putting the bag on the sofa, she looked very familiar with this occasion.
"We talked to Mr. Yi, and the matter is settled." She went on to say, "You are the key training targets of the company, and it is very unlikely that you will be put on the bed by any rich man. And the recent trend of tenderness, It's a matter of fashion taste."
When she said this, she didn't change her face, she was familiar with this kind of topic and straightforward.
"But you also need to know," she added, "if the rich really want to do it, there's nothing they can do about it."
Having known each other for so long, Bai Jing'an knew that Haitian fell here because of student loans. Although she clearly stated on the form that she did not want to accept jobs related to Killing Show, she was assigned here because of her good grades in public relations and marketing courses. , the world has no interest in her ambition.
She'd never watched The Killing Show, and she'd been convinced she'd never be able to take it after a classmate in college had promised her she'd like it.
Now, every morning, noon, and night, she still has to rely on a few large glasses of liquor to get her to work. It's nothing, everyone is like this.
But no matter what you do, like it or not, life goes on. Society has developed to such a point that the torrent of wheels will drag everyone into it, rushing towards a crazy future.
"It's just..." Haida said, pausing for a moment, "Don't make things too ugly, it's useless."
At this time her cell phone rang, and she went outside to answer the call, Bai Jing'an heard her nonchalant sentence: "Come on, I'm just a pimp—"
When the other party said something, she suppressed her smile.
A show invitation.
Of course, the kind of invitation you couldn't refuse.
The invitation letter sent was holographic, Haida opened the inbox, and the two Killing Show contestants watched the gorgeously designed letter unfold under her hand.
It was a dilapidated and gray building in the lower city, with monsters and bloody corpses everywhere, and it said "Stay tuned, Epic Escape Show—The 8th Anniversary Show of the N-District Massacre!"
"It's a model based on the N7 area, but many new monsters and interactive plots have been added." Haida said dryly, "It's not long, it's the kind of lightning show in one day..."
After Xia Tian cursed something, Bai Jingan stared at the holographic invitation letter for a while, then stretched out his hand to zoom in on the details.
As an advertisement, the details on the invitation letter would reflect the selling point of the show to some extent. With a cold face, he marked the corpses and monsters one by one.
The corpses on the holographic screen were dripping with blood, and each died more creatively than the other. Some of them didn't look like they were killed by monsters, but they looked like they were filming fantasy porn.
The monsters are creepy, which fully reflects the designer's talent.
Bai Jing'an zoomed in on a few details, and Haitian turned his head to stare at the wall.
She didn't know what to say, and originally wanted to say "if any of you have a sponsor, you don't have to worry too much about such things", but it was really hard to say, she still has dignity.
This is another world. It doesn't seem like it exists when you're joking with them, asking for nicknames, and assigning jobs, but that's the nature of this glitzy world.
She had no choice but to say that she would ask for relevant information as soon as possible, and then left in a hurry.
2.
The two killing show contestants studied the invitation letter for a while.
This kind of show in Uptown is very common. It is small in scale, not long in duration, and has various contents, giving full play to one's imagination. It is not uncommon to see a massacre in the N district as the theme of the show, but this flash show has a large investment, has invited many stars, and the bloodshed is also particularly shocking.
The interview about the N7 area that Xia Tian did at the banquet a while ago was a big hit, and now he is still adding a follow-up program. Now it's just in time for the commemorative show, how can we not use it as an article.
Xia Tian looked at his name on the invitation letter, and when he clicked on it, his "classic video" clip would appear, immediately adding the interview that mentioned Bai Lin yesterday.
Going uptown never ends anything, the role to play is still the same, he's from the N district, and he's going to have the fun of showing the bastards uptown.
Bai Jingan stared at the holographic screen for a while, then suddenly opened another program in the terminal.
"The 'Anything Can Be Adjusted' in Honey Pavilion mentioned this show." He said.
Xia Tian was stunned for a moment, Bai Jingan stretched out his hand to mark a few paragraphs, and continued: "It's a bit cryptic, but that's what it's about."
In the marked message, "Anything can be tuned" said: It is the anniversary of a certain major event, and mine is tentatively set around 75-7, which is a bit off.
"75-7 is a planning term." Bai Jing'an said, "It refers to the area in charge of the Killing Show."
Xia Tian continued to look down, "Anything can be tuned" said that if he did a good job, he would have the opportunity to meet some higher-level dignitaries, open up a new world, and it would be worthwhile to do anything for this new joy of work.
He always likes to boast at length, one of which reads "and I've always liked to look closely".
Xia Tian realized what he was implying.
There are often guest NPCs in the Killing Show, most of them are contract personnel who can't come, stars from other circles, Killing Show stars who are lucky to retire, or people from the planning team.
It's not safe, but it can't stand someone who likes excitement. Sometimes he wondered if there were a lot of people in Uptown who were drugged and stupid, and had no concept of death at all.
And these days of monitoring let him know that "Anything can be tuned" is a fanatical killing show fan, and he has a set of theories about how to train and die all the killing show stars that look good. He simply wrote a thesis about Xia Tian, and there were some very outrageous misunderstandings about him.
Xia Tian turned his head and found that Bai Jing'an was looking at him.
That person always had the look of "keeping a low profile", but Xia Tian was sure that he just wanted to do something now.
He showed a bright smile towards the tactical plan, and said, "Then you have to go and have a look."
The eighth anniversary show of the massacre is a one-man show, and the specific plot is to enter the encapsulation area of the massacre and have close contact with various mutant creatures.
The organizer has dragged Xia Tian and Bai Jing'an into several publicity activities, and they are now classics in the team competition that heal good comrades in arms.
In the last additional interview, "Sky Viewpoint" also spread warm tablecloths in Bai Jing'an's kitchen, and set up a table of breakfast, claiming that it was all cooked in summer.
Xia Tian talked to the host about the tricks of baking bread according to the tips, please, there is no flour in the lower city, how could he know that stuff.
But Shangcheng likes this kind of thing very much, the interview is very popular, everyone believes that his cooking skills are first-rate, and the company is planning to set up a cooking column for him, which is simply nonsense.
Xia Tian received more invitations for interviews, shows and commercials, and the work became more and more busy.
Although he and Bai Jing'an became very busy people and were away from home almost all day, there was no need to worry too much about Didi. Uptown has a well-developed service industry, and rich orphans are usually looked after by full-featured robot butlers. The company also offers company childcare, though once you accept it, you may soon find your child taking drugs, promiscuity and hit-and-runs and making headlines every day.
Only six years old, no way? No, age is not an issue.
Haitian said that it would take some time to find a reliable nanny these days, and Xia Tian said that she would take care of her.
She had grown up downtown and was used to it.
Xia Tian added three assistants, two make-up artists, and two image publicists. A group of people came and went, and they even brought their own floating RVs. Participating in the show was like an army transiting the border.
Then he stopped and looked at the propaganda stage in front of the hall.
The whole hall was like that, to be exact. Here I used the street corner of the N7 District to shoot the scene. When you look up, you can see a sky made of building materials. The fluorescent lamps are always on, and the light at the corners is never bright enough. Blood and corpses are hidden in the shadows of the gutters and corners.
There are also holographic mutant creatures on stage crawling hungrily down the street, passing them like ghosts. This is indeed the specter of the Holocaust, repeatedly presented on the stage of the world through distortion and mutation.
Xia Tian was a bit chilly, and his stomach was twisted, but he tried his best to act nonchalant, able to smile, as if he had nothing to fear.
Countless cameras were facing him, and it felt like he was facing some immeasurably huge monster, hungry, and any vulnerability in front of it would be fatal.
The invited contestants will be interviewed on the holographic arena of the same size. The host will introduce the highlights of the show in a brisk tone, review the tragic events of the year, and also have the playback of the corresponding video.
At the assistant's polite request, Xia Tian sat on the wasteland-style sofa. He's been sitting here staring at Area 75-7 on the floor plan of the arena. It's a repair shop. The image is simple and vague, but that's the first place he goes after he gets on the field.
He fiddled with the craft knife placed by the sponsor on the table, the blade was cold and deadly, and in the end only this was reliable.
The host walked towards Xia Tian, ready to make a joke that he thought was very funny, but Xia Tian's expression made him swallow the words abruptly, turned a corner calmly, aimed at the next contestant, and did not even move his footsteps. Lighten up.
A new round of popular science on the riots in District N was carried out on the big screen.
The riot stemmed from a common conflict between locals and management in the downtown area, but this time it happened to Bai Lin from District N7.
The local administrator took a fancy to his sister and forcibly arrested her. The child was only thirteen years old.
Bai is a common surname in the local area. In that kind of place, the cohesion of the clan is very strong. And Bai Lin is the kind of person who is surrounded by brothers and friends.
When he tried to rescue his sister, he clashed with the local authorities and killed two people.
As a punishment, those men killed his family members, nine in all, and hung their dismal bodies on the outer wall.
Now no one can tell what kind of person Bai Lin is, but what will happen to a young man's family is basically certain.
He became a loner, full of deep hatred and revenge at all costs. And he is top-notch and very charismatic.
This is a situation that any authority figure would avoid.
One night, this group of people—that is, a group of young people under the age of twenty—hacked the security system, broke into the chief executive's mansion, and killed everyone including the security team. Blood stained the entire building.
The thirteen-year-old girl was not mentioned in any news, but everyone knew that Bai Lin failed to save her. Some say he killed everyone out of anger.
The riot started at that moment. They occupied the mansion, hacked into the system, and controlled the power supply and resources. The process went smoothly unexpectedly.
The lower city is full of fuel oil, and Bai Lin's behavior is the match.
Bai Lin was elected to the throne amidst the chaos and fanaticism. People in the lower city believed him to be a hero, but what they didn't expect was that the upper world was the main force that deified him.
Uptown is obsessed with the N-block massacre. They make movies, TV series, play games, write papers, and interpret it from various angles, including commemorative shows of course.
During the pre-match promotion, the organizer took the opportunity to advertise the recent remake of "Leaving the Darkness", which also talked about the N-zone incident.
According to the host, the original flavor of the film created a world of oppressive darkness and nowhere to go, while Bai Lin is the light that pierces the darkness, an invincible God of War figure. The original version also won seven awards from Master Floating Gold.
Throughout history, which power department won the rebels must try their best to discredit the image of the leader of the other party. The people here are good, and they are happy to promote and package. They just created a generation of heroes and a golden indicator of ratings.
Xia Tian watched the exciting trailer on the big screen, the legendary Bai Lin was sitting on the stone steps, the streetlight was cast from above like a spotlight, and only the background was in the camera, as if it was impossible to capture the face of such a person.
He clasped his hands tightly and stared into the darkness, motionless.
The picture lasted for a long time and was full of symbols, foretelling that a huge event was about to happen.
After the trailer, there is a narration by the director, accompanied by beautiful and exciting video clips.
A deep male voice said in a voiceover:
Over the years, Uptown has kept asking this history, how did they make the decision to resist? Do you regret it? angry? Are you proud
Did Bai Lin know that he would be the visionary he is today, or was he just a young man who was suddenly hit by a disaster? What did he learn in the end
There must have been something, it was a real revolt, it was the deaths of millions of people.
What can we learn from it? It must not just take some time, sit in front of the terminal, hold a wine glass or a snack, watch how other people die tragically, and continue to live like this
Like all people who naturally turn to stories, we turn to this sprawling story that has produced more than three million dead bodies.
But everything we got out of it felt too understated and not powerful enough compared to such carnage.
The tone of the narration is slow and sad, touching.
The entire venue was as bright as daylight, and the light was blurred on the high-simulation holographic screen, jewelry, costumes and weapons. The music was passionate, burning the venue like a flame.
The director is a guy with severe dark circles and crazy eyes. He watched his gorgeous battle scenes and handsome male lead the whole time, with a look of distraught.
The halo accumulated by millions of deaths enveloped this world, and more blood and corpses would pile up in the upper city, making it even more dazzling. No one can escape.
Xia Tian thought, this is the halo of the massacre in N District.
The eighth anniversary show of the massacre in the N District started at midnight and ended at midnight the next day. The world is a city that never sleeps, so there is no problem of late start time.
Drugs and high medical level can make people turn upside down day and night, leading a free and entertaining life.
There were nearly 300 participants, most of them were players who performed well in the team competition, as well as newcomers who entered from different channels and death row prisoners who increased the bloodiness of the arena.
In order to be "realistic", everyone changed into clothes in line with the style of the massacre downtown - there is actually a brand called "bloody style". Bai Jingan wore an inventive gray shirt with a "distracting" waistline, in the words of the sponsor. He dressed with bitterness and hatred on his face.
Summer clothes are not much better, those pants... Forget it, anyway, it has nothing to do with the downtown style, it's just model clothes, they go in to show off their figures.
Before the start of the match, he turned his head and glanced at Bai Jing'an, who was standing beside him, his face was a little pale.
Although he actually looks normal, with his usual bored expression, he can casually say a lot of official answers that are better than nothing, but Xia Tian just feels that he is not quite right.
He touched his arm, Bai Jing'an turned to look at him, his pupils were slightly dilated, something was tense in his eyes, but nothing showed on his face.
Xia Tian said to him seriously: "I will take care of you."
Bai Jingan smiled at him, looking very sad.